findlay



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

0. P. FINDLAY.

TRACTION ROPE RAILWAY.

No. 302,328., Patented July 22 -(No Model.) z'sneets-sheen 2. G. F.FINDLAY.

TRACTION ROPERAILWAY. I No. 302,328. Patented July 22, 1884.

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U ITED STATES PATENT Oriana.

CHARLES F. FINDLAY, OF LONDON, COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND.

TRACTION-ROPE RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 302,328, dated July 22,1884.

Application filed September 29, 1883. (No model.) Patented in EnglandMarch 6, 1883, No. 1,201. 7

T0 at whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES FARQUHAR FINDLAY, a subject of the Queen ofGreat Britain, residing at London, in the county of Middlesex, England,have invented a new and useful Gripping Apparatus for Traction-RopeRailways, (for which I have obtained a patent in Great Britain, No.1,201, bearing date March 6,1883,) of which the following is aspecification.

The forms of gripping apparatus hitherto invented for use ontraction-rope railways may be broadly divided into two classesfirst,those in which, when the car stops, the rope can be entirely releasedfrom the grip, provision be ing made for lowering the grip to attach itto the rope, and again raising it to the level where it will clear thesupporting-pulleys of the rope; and, secondly, those in which the ropeis retained in the grip throughout the journey and runs over smallwheels suitably arranged in the grip when the car is at rest. There areobjections to both these classes of apparatus to the former that thereis a danger of the car being started before the grip has been raised toits proper level, and to the latter that there is an excessive wear,both of the rope and the grip, by the friction of the rope runningthrough the grip during long stoppages.

My object in the present invention is to provide an apparatus which,while it will be equally simple in construction and working with thosenow in use, will avoid the inconvenien'ces above described. I alsoprovide a simple means of operating thebrakes at the same time as thegrip and by the same 1110- tion. I attain these objects in the mannerset forth in the accompanying drawings, of which Figure 1 is a side viewof the gripping apparatus, and Fig. 2 an end view, in which similarparts are denoted by the same letters.

The rope is gripped between an upper jaw, A, and a lower jaw, 13. Thejaw A is attached to a plate, 0, which plate has a vertical motion bymeans of the link D and handlever E. Thelever E is keyed to a shaft, F,firmly supported from the frame of the car. The lower jaw, 13, isattached to plates G G, which are suspended by links H H from the endsof the levers I I, where necessary guides,

G" G, may also be fixed to the frame-work of the car, as shown in Fig.2, so as to preserve the plates G in their proper vertical positlons.

The levers I I turn with a shaft, J, to which they are rigidly attached,and which is carried-by bearings, supported from the framework of thecar.

On the shaft J are short levers or cranks K, through the ends of whichpasses a pin with a loose sleeve, L, on it. The sleeve L is depressed bymeans of a shaft, M, raised and lowered by the screw N, turning in nutO, by means of hand-wheel I. The nut O is supported by a fixed frameOrbracket, Q, Q. The shaft M is in two parts, flanged, and connected bya collar, R. The lower part of the shaft is square, and passes through asquare opening in a plate let into the floor of the car. The lower partof the shaft M has thus a vertical motion with the screw, but does notrevolve.

S is a stop suspended from the frame Q, and connected by a link, T, tothe hand-lever E.

\Vhen the lever E is in the position shown in Fig. 2, the stop rests 011the collar R, and the screw cannot be raised; but when the lever isdrawn back the link T draws the stop S aside into the position shown bythe dotted lines in Fig. l, and the screw is free to rise.

I connect the brakes to the hand-lever E in the following manner: Thebrake-blocks are -attached to bars U U, suspended from and turning aboutpins carried in fixed bearings V V. The bars U U are raised by rods IVW, connecting them to links X X, attached by pins to the lugs oreccentrics Y Y, which are rigidly attached to or form part of the shaftF. The links X X are divided, and have adjusting-screws Z Z to take upthe wear of the brake-blocks.

The action of the mechanism above described is as follows: In theordinary working of traffic, the stops of the car being short, thehand-wheel I will not be used; but the press ure on the cable will beremoved by drawing to the left the lever E, which action at the sametime, if carried far enough, applies the brakes by raising the links XX, and by them lifting the bars U U, which carry the blocks. When,however, a longer stop has to be made, (as, for instance, onsingle-track roads at passing places, or in many other contingencieswhich often occur,) the brakes will first be applied by the lever E, andthen by turning the hand-wheel I, to raise the screw N, the lower jaw,B, with the cable, will be allowed to fall byits own weight until theweight of the cable is taken off the jaw. The stop S prevents the screwbeing raised by any mistake without the brakes having been first appliedto stop the car and the jaw A raised, and when the jaw B has once beenlowered it is seen that the car cannot be started until it has beenagain raised to the proper level.

I am aware that other means of connecting the gripping apparatus of atraction-rope railway to the car-brakes, so as to operate both by thesame motion, have been proposed heretofore, and in this part of myinvention I only claim as new the special means I employ for thepurpose.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States, is as follows:

1. In the gripping apparatus of a tractionrope railway, the combination,with the movable upperjaw, A, of a lower jaw, B, having an independentvertical motion apart from that of the upper jaw, substantially asdescribed.

2. In the gripping apparatus of a tractionrope railway, in combinationwith two jaws, 0 A and B, the link H, lever I, shaft J, and crank K,substantially as described.

3. In the gripping apparatus of a tractionrope railway, the combinationof ahand-lever,

E, shaft I and link D, for applying pressure to the cable, with ahand-wheeL/P, screw N, and nut O, for raising and lowering the cable,substantially as described.

4. In the gripping apparatus of a tractlonrope railway, the combination,with the upper 40 jaw, A, of a lower jaw, B, links H, levers I and K,shaft M, and screw N, substantially as described.

5. In combination with devices for operating the jaws of a cable-grip,the link T and 5 stop S, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the hand-lever E, operating the grippingapparatus of a traction-rope railway, of links X, rods NV, and bars U,for operating the brakes, substantially as set forth.

London, August 18, 1883.

O. F. FINDLAY. IVitnesses:

ALFRED DONNISON, PERoY L. M. KEY,

Both of 71 Cor-Mill, London.

